The Sound of You
by mysterioustrumpet
Summary: The one thing Lance wants in life is to become a famous musician, but it's much harder than he thought. When Allura proposes they enter a band contest Lance is immediately on board, and he thinks they could win. That is, until he hears Keith Kogane play. Suddenly Lance can't stop thinking about him. He's gonna' need a lot more than talent to survive this band competition.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"WHAT'S UP, NERDS!" Lance yells. He plopped on the ground and slipped his shoes off. Ohhhhh, that felt much better. After a long day of standing at work, there was nothing better than taking his shoes off to stretch his toes.

"Hey, Lance," Pidge shouted back. He could hear them clacking away at their keyboard while the more muffled sounds of video game music came from the TV. Lance walked into the living room to see Hunk leaning forward in his chair with a super intense expression on his face.

Lance glanced at the game he was playing. "Dude, it's just Mario Kart. Why the intense face?"

Hunk veered the controller to the right, along with his body. "Oh, hey, Lance. I'm in a tournament so I gotta' get first place."

Lance smiled. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

Lance started walking toward him, but instead of walking around the couch he walked in front of the TV. It _totally_ wasn't on purpose though.

"Dude!" Hunk cried, leaning to the left to see around him. "Seriously? I'm trying to win, here!"

Pidge snickered, and Lance smiled wider. "Of course, of course. I just needed to get something from over here that I could only get by walking in front of the TV. I absolutely, one hundred percent couldn't have gotten it any other way."

"AAARRGGGHHH! I'll kill you, Luigi!" Hunk yelled, spamming the L button. The race ended and he groaned, throwing the controller to the other side of the couch. "Great. Thanks, Lance. Fifth place 'cuz of you and Luigi."

Pidge cracked up. "Oh my god, have you seen that slow motion video of Luigi?"

"Yeah!" Lance said. "The one where Luigi, like, glares at the other characters when he passes them?"

Pidge started laughing until they snorted, and Lance laughed too.

"Not funny, guys," Hunk grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. "Luigi hit me with a red shell and I lost my first place."

"It's okay, Hunk," Pidge said. "It's not like you were gonna' get first place to begin with."

"Hey!"

Pidge and Lance burst out laughing again, and once Lance was starting to calm down he walked over to Hunk and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy. You'll get that dastardly Luigi next time."

"Hmph." Hunk sank into the couch. "Whatever."

The sound of the door opening had Lance peering around the corner. And of course his heart started racing like it always did whenever he saw her. Allura closed the door behind her and a smile lit up her face. "Hello, everyone! I ended work early and I came straight over." Lance ran over to her and leaned against the wall, putting on his best "lover-boy" face as she took her shoes off. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Yes, hello to you too, Lance."

Lance's heart did a slow roll in his chest. Ever since he first met Allura he'd had the biggest crush on her. She was pretty and smart and amazing, and even though Allura thought it was just a school-boy crush on his part, Lance was certain that it was more than that. "Why, hello there, Allura. Why did you come straight here after work?

She smiled. "Give me a tic." Lance smiled back. He loved her British accent. She bent down and rummaged through her bag, tucking her long white hair behind her ear. "Ah, here!" She stood up with a rolled up poster in her hand and headed around the corner into the living room.

"Hey, you two," Allura said.

"Hey, Allura," Pidge and Hunk replied at the same time.

"I don't mean to interrupt what you're doing, but I think you'll want to hear what I have to say." Pidge and Hunk swung their heads around to look over at her, and she unfurled the poster in her hands. Lance leaned over to see what was on it.

"Ta-da!" Allura presented. The poster was hot pink with a guitar taking up most of the page, and in big, black letters it said, ' _Battle of the Bands!'_

Lance blinked and glanced up at Allura. "A band contest?"

She nodded in excitement. "Yes! Wouldn't it be amazing to try it? The winning band gets a five-thousand cash prize _and_ gets to open for Marmora Blade!"

Lance's jaw dropped. "No. Way. Marmora Blade is one of the best bands ever!"

Pidge leaped out of their chair and Allura handed them the poster. Pidge squinted at it and adjusted their glasses. "Let me check out their website." They returned to their desk and furiously tapped at the keyboard.

"Do you really think we're good enough to compete?" Hunk asked, resting his chin on the couch top. "I mean, Marmora Blade is _really_ good. Could we even get there?"

"Okay." Pidge cleared their throat. "It says here, 'Battle of the Bands is a statewide contest that travels from state to state looking for new talent. We're looking for bands that think out of the box and aren't afraid to try something different. Winners receive a five-thousand cash prize, as well as the chance to open for rising band _Marmora Blade_. Keep reading to see the rules and how to sign up."

Lance's brain took over, and he was immediately transported into a fantasy. He could see it now: their band going through the contest. Winning first place. Opening for Marmora Blade, gaining recognition, and signing a record deal. They'd record their own music, go on tour, and become nationally recognized musicians. Not to mention, he'd have tons of girls around him. That was the _dream_.

A huge smile lit up Lance's face. "Guys, we have to do it."

Hunk frowned thoughtfully. "Are you sure? We might not be that good for it."

"What are you talking about?" Lance asked, walking in front of Hunk and grabbing him by the shoulders. "Of course we're good enough! And if we aren't, we just have to _become_ good enough!"

"Lance is right," Allura said, smiling broadly. "Even if we're not good enough yet, we know what to do to become better. And even if we don't win, it would be practice for us. Come on, guys. Isn't this what we've been talking about for a while?"

It was true. Their band, _The Paladins_ , was started when Lance met Pidge and Hunk at school. They'd been missing a fourth member, but after meeting Allura at another band's concert they'd finally formed their band. With Lance on lead guitar and vocals, Allura on rhythm guitar and backup vocals, Hunk on bass, and Pidge on drums, they were a solid band that melded well together. They'd been trying to gain more recognition recently, since the four of them weren't satisfied with just playing open mic nights.

Pidge stood up from their desk. "Yeah! I'm in!"

Hunk grinned. "Alright, I'm in too."

"Yeah!" Lance cheered. "We're gonna' be awesome, guys!"

They all cheered together, and Lance felt his heart dance in his chest. There'd be no stopping them now!

* * *

The first half of the contest would be in the summer before the next school year started, which was fine by Lance. Having to take general education classes at his community college was like torture, especially when he had no interest in most of the other subjects. The first part would have three rounds in three weeks, with each band performing once per round. That meant they had to write three different songs to perform during each round.

Lance puffed out a quick breath. He could feel the motivation giving him intense energy, and he couldn't stop a smile from spreading on his face. They were _totally_ gonna' win this thing.

The next few weeks were spent practicing, practicing, and practicing. Writing the songs was usually a collaborative thing, but Lance came up with most of the lyrics. He was sitting at his desk going over lyrics for one of the songs when his phone buzzed next to him.

He picked it up and smiled to see Allura's icon. "Hey. What's up?"

"Hey," Allura responded. "I'm just getting off of work and I wanted to ask about the songs before I officially pass out in my dorm."

Lance laughed. "Aw, you're not even gonna' stop by to see my beautiful face?"

Allura sighed lightly. "Nope. Not today. I've got sleep to catch up on. How's the writing coming along?"

"I've got most of the lyrics done, but this last song keeps tripping me up."

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually."

"Thanks," Lance said, breaking into a yawn of his own. "Woah, I think your sleepiness is contagious."

"I'm almost to my car anyway. See you tomorrow for practice?" Allura said.

Lance nodded. "Yep. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

They hung up and Lance stretched as he yawned again. Tomorrow was another day of writing and practicing. He'd better get some sleep.

* * *

"Pidge, maybe the rhythm should be different at this part?" Lance suggested, going over to Pidge and notating on their score. "I feel like it should be different."

The four of them were in Lance's garage, practicing the first song on their set list. It was the week before the first part of the contest started, and Lance was getting increasingly excited and nervous. Their songs were almost ready, but there were a few things left he wanted to tweak.

"I know what you mean," Pidge said. They set down their drumsticks and erased the previous rhythm. "Maybe we could space it out more? Should it be more syncopated?"

Lance nodded. "Something like that. Let's try it."

They practiced that section with the rhythm change, and Lance felt immediately better about it. "Perfect. That works a lot better."

Pidge scribbled a note on their score and Lance wrote it down on his as well.

"Okay, everyone," Lance said, "let's take a break. We've been going for a while."

The four of them had sheens of sweat on their faces, and Lance could feel his own clammy heat. He loved the way practicing music made him feel. He set his guitar down in its stand and walked over to Allura.

She took a drink from her water bottle and smiled at him. "How're you feeling about the set list?"

"Pretty good," Lance replied. "Would you be mad at me if I tried to hug you right now?"

Allura rolled her eyes in good nature. "I'm already sweaty enough. I don't need yours added to mine."

Lance grinned. "Just checking."

"Hey, guys," Hunk said from his seat, "what do we know about the competition?"

"I'm glad you asked, Hunk." Pidge pushed their glasses up, a self-satisfied smirk on their face. "I've actually been doing research into the other bands to see what they're like."

"Okay, go on then," Allura said.

Pidge cleared their throat. "Well. There's a few bands that I can see being a problem for us. One is called Jungle Planet, and they've been kind of prolific in their performances so far. Nothing specifically noteworthy, but still they have a bit of a following on social media."

"Heh," Lance snickered. " _Note_ worthy."

Hunk snorted. "Nice."

Pidge rolled their eyes despite their smile. "Next, there's Galra Nation, who've been slowly building a reputation as having killer guitar and drum solos, as well as specializing in jazz."

"Okay. So we've got to work on our jazz style," Allura noted, half to herself.

"Finally there's The Legendary Defenders, and they're probably the band we're gonna' have the most trouble with. They've opened for a few lesser known bands before, and their main member, Keith Kogane, has quite a big fan base already."

Lance squinted. "Keith Kogane? Where have I heard that name before?"

Pidge shrugged. "You might have seen him in the local news or something."

"Nah, I don't watch the news."

"Then, I dunno'."

Hunk said something to Allura and she replied, but Lance was in his own world now. Those three bands had followings already, meanwhile their band barely had three people who knew about them. Hard cold resolve formed in Lance's gut, and he squared his stance.

"Okay, guys," he said. "We're gonna' win this thing no matter what. Who cares about those other bands? We've got our band, and our band is the _bomb_. We're gonna' blow everyone else out of the water, and then we'll win first place!"

"Yeah!" the other three cheered.

Lance just hoped he could feel as confident as he acted.

* * *

The four of them were standing in the wings of the venue, waiting for their turn on stage. The venue was not as big as Lance had thought it would be, but that was to be expected for the first round of a band contest. The final performances were usually more popular anyway.

Lance let out a deep breath and turned to his friends. "Okay. Dress rehearsal. We don't have to give it 100%, but let's give enough to intimidate the other bands. So, like, 85%."

Pidge rolled their eyes in good nature. "Sure, 85%. Got it."

Hunk stretched out his hands, rolling his wrists back and forth. "So, just a practice run?"

"Yep," Lance replied.

"Don't worry about this one too much, either," Allura said quietly. "Just remember that we've practiced our songs enough times to have it be muscle memory. Our bodies know what to do."

Lance smiled at her. Allura always knew what to say. "Right. Let's give it our 85%, y'all."

"Yeah!" they whisper-cheered.

"Next up, The Legendary Defenders," the MC said, his voice muffled from his place in front of the closed curtain. "Their members are Keith Kogane on guitar and vocals, Takashi Shirogane on bass, Adam Westley on drums, and Shay Balmera on keyboard."

"This is them," Allura whispered to Lance, leaning in to him. "The band that Pidge warned us about."

Lance nodded, and he felt his gut clench in anticipation. He wanted to hear what this so-called "good" band sounded like. "Yeah. Let's see how they do."

He watched from the wings as The Legendary Defenders set up their instruments in a blue-out. A blackout would be too dark for the musicians to set up things properly, so the lighting designers opted for blue-outs during transitions. The only problem was, Lance could still hardly see what the other band looked like.

They were still setting up when Lance felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a stagehand dressed in all black and with a clipboard around their neck. "The Paladins, right? You guys are up next?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah."

"Come with me, please."

Lance gestured to his friends and they followed the stagehand through a door that led them to another part of the backstage, one that wasn't open to the stage. The door closed behind him and Lance had to hide his disappointment. They'd barely be able to hear The Legendary Defenders now.

The stagehand gave them a quick smile. "While The Legendary Defenders are getting ready you guys will have to prepare your instruments to be moved on next. We'll go through a quick practice session right now, but tomorrow you can move your instruments into place as soon as the band before you starts to move."

The stagehand led the four of them through the movements of moving their instruments into place, which ended up taking a bit longer than anticipated. Disappointment churned in Lance's gut. He'd have to wait until tomorrow to hear them.

Finally they finished moving, and Lance went as quickly as he could to the wings to see if he could catch them performing. He opened the door to the wings and heard them play the last chord in their last song, and Lance pouted. Great.

The curtain closed, and the MC went on to announce Lance's band next. Allura came up next to him. "You ready?"

Lance looked over at her and smiled. He wasn't nervous right now, since this was just a rehearsal. "Yeah. We've got this."

Once The Legendary Defenders had finished moving their instruments to the other side of the stage, Lance and his band moved theirs on. It didn't take long this time, and Lance was proud with how efficiently they'd set everything up.

The curtains opened, and Lance took a deep breath. This was just a rehearsal. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the real deal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Sorry we didn't get to hear your rival band, Lance," Allura said.

Lance sighed as he adjusted the phone in his hand. "That's okay. We'll be able to hear them tomorrow, 'cuz I have a secret plan."

Allura chuckled. "Oh, really? And what might that be?"

"We're gonna' prepare our instruments a band ahead of time. So the band before Kogane's band will be playing, and we'll get our instruments ready."

"Is that really so secret?"

"Yeah, well, you know I'm a drama queen."

Allura laughed. "Of course, how could I forget. Okay, that sounds good. Make sure you let Pidge and Hunk know as well."

"Yep."

"Anyway, I've got to sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow," Allura said.

Lance grinned. "Mmkay, see you tomorrow."

As he hung up the phone he smiled wider to himself. Damn, he really liked Allura. She was awesome in every way, with practically no flaws, and he couldn't wait to play alongside her tomorrow. Maybe after all this was over he could finally find the courage to tell her how he felt. Lance yawned and stretched in his seat. He should probably get to sleep now too. They had a big day tomorrow.

* * *

The four of them stopped outside the venue. People were slowly trickling in, stopping every now and then to talk to someone else. Lance glanced around to see if he could spot anyone he knew, but so far they were just strangers. Strangers were easier to perform in front of. That way even if he sucked they'd forget about it in a few days.

"Alright, guys, " Lance said to his band mates. "This is the day of the performance, and I just wanted to say that you guys are frickin' awesome and we're gonna' nail this performance."

"You bet!" Pidge cheered, slapping their hand on Lance's back as they grinned broadly. "Not to mention we've got an awesome leader."

"Yeah, this is awesome, Lance," Hunk agreed. "As soon as we finish this round I'll bake everyone a huge meal to celebrate."

"We're going to do amazing, everyone," Allura said.

"Let's head inside," Lance turned and headed for the back of the venue where they'd be waiting backstage until it was their turn. But luckily for them Lance had his secret plan. He smiled to himself. He'd finally be able to hear Kogane's band play, and then he'd decide what he was up against.

The backstage was packed with the other band members, several of them carrying their guitars or basses with them to go over their parts before they performed. Lance could feel his heart rate starting to speed up and his stomach start to turn. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He'd be fine. He'd performed in front of crowds before. Not as many times as he'd have liked to, but something was better than nothing.

The backstage contained a hallway that connected the two wing entrances and two rehearsal rooms that everyone was just using as rooms to hang out in before they went on stage. The dressing room was at the end of the hallway, which looked more like a fitting room in a clothing store. The four of them went into one of the rehearsal rooms to find a few other bands milling around as well. A lot of people were mingling and chatting together already.

Pidge gasped next to him. "Is that a guy with an Alan Turing t-shirt?!"

Hunk stood up straighter. "What? Where?"

Pidge grabbed Hunk's arm and started dragging him towards the guy. "Let's go ask him about complicated science stuff!"

Allura chuckled. "Well, looks like they're off on their own thing. I saw a friend of mine earlier go into the other rehearsal room, so I'm going to go say hi to her. I'll see you in a bit."

Lance nodded. "Yep. See ya' later."

Allura left the rehearsal room and, suddenly by himself, Lance started to feel a bit self-conscious. He shook his head. Nah, what was he talking about? Lance was great at socializing! He'd prove it.

He glanced around the room to see if there was anyone he could talk with, then he spotted him. A guy standing by himself in the corner of the room, taking a sip from a thermos and glancing around the room with a lazy expression. The first thing Lance noticed was that the guy was good-looking, like an actor or some TV personality. But then he noticed that the guy's black hair was longer in the back than it was in the front, and Lance rolled his eyes. Really? Who wears a mullet anymore?

But the guy was also wearing a Nirvana t-shirt and Lance had to be an idiot not to talk to him. Lance made his way over and put on his most confident smile.

He slid up next to the guy as his head was turned the other way. "So, Nirvana, huh?" What's your favorite album? Mine has got to be Nevermind."

The guy looked over at him and blinked. "Nirvana? Who's that?"

Lance glanced at Mullet's shirt. Nope. He wasn't hallucinating. It was definitely a Nirvana t-shirt. "Uh, you know, the shirt you're wearing?"

Mullet raised an eyebrow at Lance like he didn't know what he was talking about. "Huh?"

Lance felt his whole face heat up and tried to back track. "Uh, well, you know, I thought you would know them 'cuz you were wearing their shirt and, uh, well, they were such an influential band, and, um . . ."

Mullet broke into a grin and started chuckling. Lance blinked. "Did I miss something?"

The guy shook his head, still chuckling. "No, no, no. I was just jokin' with ya'. Of course I know who Nirvana is. But the look on your face was too good to ruin."

Lance folded his arms across his chest. "So, you think you can just play a prank on any random stranger, now do ya?"

Mullet shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, I call 'em like I see 'em. You liked like the kinda guy to take a joke so I thought, 'Why not'?"

Lance gave him a broad grin. "Well, lucky for you, Mullet-Head, I can take a joke. What would you have done if I couldn't?"

The guy squinted at him with a smirk of disbelief. "'Mullet-Head'? So you've decided to mock my haircut, now?"

Lance gave a shrug of his own. "I figured if you can dish it out, you must be able to take it, right?"

Mullet sighed. "I guess I have no choice. But now I need a snappy name for you too. How 'bout . . ."

The guy was still thinking of a nickname when Lance heard his name. He turned to see Allura walking towards him. "Lance, my friend wants to meet you. I told her I'd come get you."

"Coming!" He turned back to Mullet and felt strangely bad about leaving. He'd been starting to enjoy their banter. "Sorry, Mullet-Head. Gotta' go."

Mullet rolled his eyes with a good-natured chuckle. "I guess I'm stuck with that now. See ya' later, then."

Lance followed Allura out of the room to go meet her friend, and as he walked away he wondered why he was feeling bad about leaving someone he'd only just met. He could feel the guy's gaze following him out of the room, and it gave Lance a peculiar feeling, one he couldn't place.

* * *

"Up next is Attempted Facade," the MC announced. Lance looked over at the small monitor hooked up in the rehearsal room to see the MC standing in front of the closed curtain.

"This is the band before Kogane's," Lance said. He turned to Allura. "Allura, we should find Pidge and Hunk and start getting ready if we want to hear Kogane's performance."

Allura's friend, Romelle, smiled widely. "You're talking about The Legendary Defenders, aren't you?"

Lance turned to her. "Yeah, do you know them?"

Romelle gasped. "Know them? How can I not? They're an awesome band!"

Lance cleared his throat.

Romelle blinked. "Oh, um, I mean, I'm sure you guys will do just as well. Go Allura!"

Allura chuckled. "That's alright, Romelle."

"Give it up for Attempted Facade!" the MC said.

Lance glanced at the small monitor to see the curtains pull open. "Allura, we should go now."

Allura nodded. "Right. I'll talk to you later, Romelle."

"Break a leg, guys," Romelle said, giving them both a thumbs up.

Lance and Allura found Pidge and Hunk in the other rehearsal room still talking to the guy with Alan Turing t-shirt, and Lance quickly looked around for Mullet, surprised to feel a bit disappointed when he wasn't there. The four of them went to the instrument room and started bringing their instruments to the stage-right wings so they could get ready.

Once they'd put their instruments in place where they could access them quickly, they waited backstage for the current band to finish so they could pull their instruments on at the same time Kogane's band was setting up.

Attempted Facade finished their song and Hunk opened the door to peer inside. "They're setting up now. Let's go!"

The four of them pulled their instruments into the wings and set them up in the proper area just as Kogane's band was setting theirs up behind the closed curtain. Lance grinned to himself. Now he'd be able to hear them perform the song without interruptions. He was honestly a genius.

"Ready?" Allura said, coming up next to him.

Lance nodded. "Definitely."

The MC finished announcing Kogane's band. "Let's give a warm welcome to The Legendary Defenders!"

The audience erupted into applause and cheers, and Lance frowned. Was Kogane's band really that well known? Lance swallowed back his jealousy and turned so he could see the stage. He'd make his own decision.

The curtain pulled back and the stage flooded with light. Lance blinked. Once. Twice. Then his jaw dropped. Standing on stage with a sunburst Les Paul Gibson guitar was none other than Mullet-Head himself.

Lance turned to Allura and whispered rapidly, "That's the guy I was talking to earlier! The guy with the mullet!"

Allura shushed him. "They're starting!"

Lance turned his gaze so he could see Kogane standing on stage. He was turned so his back was to the audience, gazing at his band mates with a confident smile. He made eye contact with each of them, nodded, and faced the audience again.

Then he started singing.

 _Facing the crowd, you turn to me_

 _I see your smile written there_

 _Almost as if you don't want me to see_

 _The pain that you cannot bare_

The bass line picked up, playing a fast four-bar phrase to backup Kogane's words. After a few more measures the other instruments burst in, and the stage was filled with movement. Kogane continued to sing into the mic, glancing at the guitar neck every now and then to assure his movements. He moved into the chorus, and the bassist and the keyboard player joined in singing harmonies that sent chills running across Lance's skin.

Lance couldn't blink. He couldn't move. He couldn't think. He watched Kogane as if in a trance, and the rest of the world became blurry to him. He could only see Kogane on stage, singing his heart out to a crowd that no longer existed to Lance. Light bounced off Kogane's hair, his arms, his guitar, his body. It was like he was moving in slow motion. Lance could capture every movement, every detail in this one moment. And most of all, he felt an emotion in his chest that he'd never felt before, something he couldn't identify.

"He's . . . amazing," Lance whispered, barely feeling the words leave his lips.

Then he blinked, and the song was over. The crowd was going wild, and Lance couldn't believe what had just happened. How had they been so good?

"Lance, are you ready?" Allura said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Lance started and turned to see her with a concerned expression.

His mind went blank for a second before he forced himself to smile. "Yeah. I'm ready. Let's do our best."

The curtains closed and the blue out came on behind them, signaling to Lance that it was their turn to move. Kogane started moving his things off stage, and as Lance turned to grab his own guitar he felt something calm down inside him. He was almost always nervous before a big performance, but for some reason he felt totally calm. With his guitar in one hand and his amp in the other he walked on stage, looking at the markers on the ground to make sure he was in the right place.

He pulled his guitar over his head and set his amp down before walking over to help Pidge move their drums on stage. Everything was set up just as quickly as yesterday, but in the dim light he could see the worry on his band mates faces. The MC was still talking, so he gathered them into a small circle.

"Guys, we're going to do this. We're an amazing band, and we're all amazing musicians. We can do this," Lance said, trying to project his calm and confidence to his friends.

Hunk wavered. "But The Legendary Defenders were so good."

"And so are we," Allura added, catching Lance's attitude. "We haven't worked this hard for the past few months for nothing, have we?"

"No," Pidge responded, an excited smile on their face. "We came here to win."

"And that's what we'll do," Lance said, pulling away. "We've got this, guys."

Lance faced the curtain just in time to hear the MC say, "Please welcome, The Paladins!"

The curtain opened and Lance gazed out at the crowd of people clapping for them. There were probably only a few people in the audience who actually knew of them and their music, but Lance didn't care at that moment. All he cared about was putting on a fantastic performance. One like Kogane had just done.

The thought of Kogane's performance calmed Lance down again, and he let out a slow breath. He glanced at Allura to see her give a quick smile. He looked at Pidge and Hunk behind him to see them give nods of encouragement. Lance cheated out a bit so he could see all three of them, and he nodded his head to the quick tempo while mouthing, "One, two, one two three four—"

The four of them started perfectly on time together, and Lance faced the audience as he played the opening chords. He could feel the beat from Pidge's drums pounding in his stomach, and a wave of adrenaline went through him. It was strange to feel that adrenaline mix with the sense of calm he'd had earlier, but it just made him more pumped to play. Lance stepped up to the mic to start the first verse.

 _The crowd shouts to me that I've got it wrong_

 _But I say to them that I know my song_

 _Every tune has got its peace of mind_

 _Don't ask me if you know what to find_

Another instrumental break for a few measure before Lance jumped back in with the second verse. He could feel his heart pounding in time to the beat, and a smile spread across his face. Lance couldn't help it. He loved playing.

As he was performing he felt his mind wander, which wasn't necessarily the best thing for him if he wanted to focus on the song. But Lance's mind wandered in the direction of Keith Kogane, and the performance he and his band had put on earlier. How had he done it? How had Kogane made Lance feel like he'd been the only person in the audience?

A fire built in Lance's stomach, and he pulled himself back to the stage. The only thing he should be focusing on right now is giving this audience the performance of a lifetime. Not how good Kogane had looked on stage, or how his clothes had clung to his body as he'd started to sweat. _Come on, Lance, get your head out of the gutter!_

Lance sang the last part of the song and finished the riff on his guitar that signaled the end of the song. They cut off and faced the audience, and a chorus of cheers reached his ears. People whooping and cheering for them, and Lance felt a huge smile bloom on his face. This was what all their hard work had been for. This feeling right here.

The curtain closed in front of them and the four of them stood up to move their stuff off stage as quickly as they can, all the while shooting each other broad smiles and exhilarated expressions.

After moving their instruments off stage and setting his guitar down, Lance lunged toward Hunk and enveloped him in a tight embrace. Hunk laughed quietly, squeezing him right back, and Lance moved from him so he could do the same to Pidge and Allura. Pidge protested a bit but eventually relented, and Lance was happy to give them both huge hugs.

"That was awesome, guys," Lance said, still breathless from their performance.

"I'll say."

Lance turned around to see the faint outline of Kogane in the blue light, a smirk on his ridiculously handsome face. He came up to them and folded his arms across his chest. "You guys have some serious talent. You were amazing on stage."

The compliment from Kogane made Lance warm from head to toe, and he puffed out his chest to try and mask how happy Kogane's words had made him. "Yeah, w-well, you guys were pretty good too."

"Thanks." Kogane shifted his gaze to Lance. "I still have to come up with a snappy nickname for you, though. Maybe during the second round." He winked and moved past them to join his band, and Lance felt something giddy turn in his stomach.

"Uh, did that just happen?" Hunk asked, his eyes wide.

"I think we just got complimented by Keith Kogane," Pidge whispered, their mouth slack-jawed with awe.

Allura chuckled. "So that was 'Mullet-Head', I think you called him?"

Heat traveled up Lance's neck and covered his face, and he coughed into his fist. "Yeah, well, I didn't know who he was. Can you blame me?"

Allura smiled. "No. Now let's get our stuff out of here, shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Lance couldn't sleep. And when Lance couldn't sleep, it was usually because he couldn't stop thinking about something. Usually it was song ideas or cool things he'd seen in movies. Sometimes it was Allura. He'd think about something cute she'd said that day or he'd imagine what it would be like to be together. Tonight's theme: Keith Kogane.

Lance sighed and turned over. Why couldn't he stop thinking about him? Ever since he'd seen Kogane's performance he'd been playing it over and over in his mind. Lance closed his eyes and replayed it again. Was it crazy to think he remembered every detail? He remembered everything about it. The way he'd looked, the way he'd sounded, the way the light had bounced off the sweat on Kogane's forehead. Lance sighed again. There was definitely something weird going on.

And it wasn't just the fact that Lance couldn't stop thinking about him. It was that whenever Lance thought about him there was this . . . feeling in his chest. He couldn't describe it, exactly, and the fact that he couldn't place it annoyed him. He thought it felt kind of similar to when he'd had intense crushes on girls before.

Lance blinked at that and sat up in bed. Then he laughed. There was no way what he was feeling was like a crush. He was straight, for crying out loud. Lance shook his head and laughed at the thought. Him, having a crush on Keith Kogane. What a ridiculous idea. Lance thought it was more like . . . admiration? Yeah, that was the word. And maybe a bit of jealousy. Lance admired Kogane in a way that he'd never felt before. It was probably because Kogane was such a great musician. Yeah, that was probably why.

Thinking about Kogane's talent made Lance motivated to play. Actually, it made him motivated to outdo him. Lance wanted to play on stage and have people say he was better than Kogane. He wanted to stand side by side and have people choose him over Kogane.

"Okay!" Lance declared, shooting his fists up into the air. "Keith Kogane, from now on I am your rival and you are mine! From now on it's a battle of the bands!"

Nobody replied.

Lance felt heat paint his cheeks as he slid down in bed. Of course nobody replied because there was nobody else here. He sighed. He should really get some sleep. And stop thinking about Keith Kogane.

* * *

"Tall cappuccino for Terry!" Lance called out. He set the drink down and didn't wait to see if the customer picked it up before moving back to the station to make the next order. Working at a coffee shop was generally just pulling levers, pressing buttons, and doing things that had Lance's eyes glazing over at the end of his shift.

Today was one of those days where Lance was a little foggy. He'd had a weird dream that he couldn't fully remember, and he was paying the price for his lack of sleep. He'd already been yelled at once today, and he was determined for that to be the last time.

"Hey, Brent says you can go on break in ten minutes," Grant said, coming from the back door.

Lance nodded. He and Grant were work friends, and they got along pretty well. "Okay."

The bell over the door rung to indicate a new customer and Lance glanced over. Then he did a double take. Like, an actual double take. Lance blinked and tried to tell if he was dreaming. Nope. He was actually here. Keith Kogane was actually in the cafe that Lance was working at right this second.

"Oh crap," Lance said.

"You okay there, buddy?" Grant asked, coming up behind him.

"Um, uh, ah, er," Lance stammered, barely able to form a coherent sentence. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, and the butterflies in his stomach were having a rave or some kind of party where everyone head-bangs until they pass out.

Grant glanced over his shoulder and made a sound of approval. "Who is that?"

Lance shook his head. This made no sense. Just 'cuz he admired Kogane and had declared him his rival didn't mean Lance had to become a blubbering mess as soon as he saw him. _Keep it together, Lance._

Kogane walked up to the counter, his eyes on his phone. He looked up and recognition passed across his features. "Well, look who it is. I didn't you were gonna' be here, McClain."

Lance could feel his heart doing a tap dance, which made irritated him. "Uh, y-yeah. I work here. Didn't you know that, Mullet-head?"

Kogane sighed. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Lance shook his head, feeling a little more comfortable. "Nope. Not until you come up with something as well, remember?"

Kogane nodded. "Right, I remember. Are you ready for round two?"

"You bet."

"Well, I'll be sure to meet you in the wings." Kogane winked, and Lance could have sworn he'd just suffered from some kind of brain injury. All coherent thoughts left Lance's mind, and he had no idea what to say except hrghasdlfkahhg.

"U-um, f-for sure," he stammered. _Think, Lance!_ "Uh, by the way! I'm your rival now!" Lance forced himself to say something, anything, and what came out of his mouth was definitely not his brightest moment.

Kogane raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really? So we're gonna' go head to head?"

Lance nodded furiously, crossing his arms in an exaggerated gesture. "Yep! So you'd, uh, better get used to it!"

Kogane looked like he was trying hard to stifle a laugh, and not only did Lance feel his entire face heat up, he also felt like he wanted to be anywhere else but here at this moment. "Well, I look forward to doing battle with you in the future. But for now if I could get a large latte that'd be great."

Yep. Lance definitely didn't want to be here right now. He could feel the steam rising from his face as he rang Kogane up. Lance got to work making his order, ignoring the way Grant was staring at him like he'd fallen from another planet.

When he finished the order he placed it on the counter top, muttering, "Grande latte for Keith," in the grumbliest voice Lance could manage.

Kogane, who had been standing next to the counter, picked up his drink and raised it at Lance. "I'll see you around, McClain."

As soon as the door closed behind Kogane, Lance planted his face on the counter and let out a groan. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Grant looking at him with a mixture of concern and amusement. "You okay there, bud? What the hell happened just now?"

Lance went back to facing the granite surface. "I don't wanna' talk about it. He's just someone I'm up against in a band competition, and he's, like, one of the best musicians I've ever seen. So that's great."

Grant hummed in surprise. "Really? Just a competitor?"

Lance looked over at him again. "Yeah. And my self-proclaimed 'rival' I guess. God, I can't believe I said that."

Grant folded his arms across his chest and gave Lance a curious look. "Huh. That looked more like a crush than a rivalry."

Lance immediately pulled away from the counter, taking a step away from Grant. "What?! Dude, that's crazy! There's no way I have a crush on Keith Kogane!"

Grant blinked and held up his hands, one side of his mouth coming up in a grin. "Dude, relax. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. You know that I'm gay, right?"

"Wait, what?"

Grant laughed. "I never mentioned it 'cuz it never came up in conversation, but yeah. I'm gay, dude. And I'm saying that that, right there, that just happened? That looked like you trying desperately to hide the fact that you're crazy attracted to that guy. Not that I'd blame you, of course. He _was_ gorgeous."

The thought of Grant finding Kogane attractive sent discomfort rolling through Lance's stomach. Which was weird, because Lance had never and _didn't_ have a problem with LGBT+ people. Hell, two of his band members were part of that group and he didn't think twice about it. So why were Grant's words sending such an uncomfortable sensation through him?

Lance folded his arms in front of him and frowned. "Well, I'm not into him. I have a crush on someone else, anyway."

Grant raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Well, good luck with him."

"It's a girl," Lance grit out.

Grant placed a hand on Lance's shoulder. "Whoever it is, I hope your 'rivalry' with that guy goes well."

He went back to his station chuckling, leaving Lance to go on break. Lance sighed heavily. He didn't know why he'd such an intense reaction to Kogane. But he was one-hundred-and-ten percent certain it wasn't a crush.

* * *

"Lance. Lance? Lance!"

Lance blinked and snapped out his thoughts. He looked over to see Pidge looking at him with a quizzical expression on their face. They adjusted their glasses. "Are we gonna' practice the song again or not?"

"Yeah," Lance said, shaking his head. "A few more times and we can take a break."

Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Allura were gathered in Lance's garage practicing their song for the second round. They started the song, and Lance concentrated on playing the riffs correctly. He wanted to be better. No, he needed to be better. Better than Kogane. Lance mentally stopped himself from going there. He couldn't think about Kogane right now, or about what Grant had said earlier. He needed to focus on practicing.

A particularly challenging riff was coming up and Lance poured all his attention on the fretboard. He managed to pull the riff off perfectly, and recognized himself getting into his flow. He played the rest of the song perfectly as well, and when the song finished he was breathing heavily.

What would Kogane say if he saw Lance play that song? Would he be impressed? Would he brush it off? Would he compliment Lance again? Lance wondered what his reaction would be. Then he chastised himself for wondering about that.

"Lance, are you listening?" Allura asked him.

Lance glanced over at her. "Uh, what?"

"We were just saying that this was probably our best run of the song yet," Hunk filled him in. "You nailed that guitar solo as well."

Lance nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, I thought so too. About the group, I mean, not just about me. Uh, we can all take a break now if you guys want."

Pidge shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Allura checked her watch. "Oh, I've got to get going. I have a meeting with the counselor from school to talk about my classes next quarter." She hastily packed up her stuff and headed for the door leading back to the house. "Bye, everyone."

"Bye!" Hunk and Pidge said together.

"See ya," Lance said, and turned back to looking at his guitar. He plunked a few notes of the earlier riff slowly, getting his fingers to take their time so he could fully memorize the feeling.

He suddenly realized it was weirdly silent, and he looked back to see Pidge and Hunk staring at him, their eyes squinted in suspicion. "Uhhhh. Why are you guys staring at me?"

"Something's different," Pidge muttered.

Hunk nodded. "Yep. Something's definitely different."

Lance forced an awkward laugh. "Yeah, right. Nothing's different, guys."

"No, there's something different," Pidge repeated. "You've been basically absent the entire rehearsal except when you're playing, you don't respond until we call you for the fifth time, and to top it all off, you haven't hit on Allura once today. Do you still have a crush on her?"

Lance felt a blush paint his cheeks, and a bit of irritation swirled in his gut. "What are talking about? Of course I do! She's beautiful, kind, and smart. Of course I still have a crush on her."

Hunk raised an eyebrow. "Okay, whatever you say. You just seemed a bit off today. Are you worried about the second round?"

"Maybe he's worried about going up against Keith Kogane again," Pidge said, turning to Hunk.

Lance stood up. "Nononono, no, there's no way. I'm perfectly capable of standing up to Kogane. There's absolutely no way thinking about him could mess me up. Nope."

Now Pidge and Hunk were definitely looking at him weird. "There were a lot of 'no's there, buddy," Hunk said. "You've been worried about him, haven't you?"

Lance felt his entire face heat up at the thought of Kogane. Then Grant's comment from work rang in his ears, and he couldn't stop his gut from churning. "I-I haven't been! Absolutely not! And, and besides. Why would I be worried about st-stupid Keith Kogane? You know he actually pisses me off! With, with that stupid mullet, acting like he's better than everyone else. Who does he think he is? J-just 'cuz he's good at guitar and singing and performing doesn't mean he's a good person. I told him I declared myself his rival, and he just laughed it off! What an asshole!"

Pidge and Hunk were staring at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Lance's incoherent rambling finally sunk in to him, and he could swear he was as bright as a tomato right about now. He sent a silent prayer that his skin tone would hide most of the blush.

"A-anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not worried about him at all," Lance finished lamely, crossing his arms.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged a bewildered glance before looking back at Lance. Hunk looked like he was trying hard not to laugh and Pidge was smiling when they shrugged. "Okay, Lance. Whatever you say."

Lance groaned. "Ugh. Whatever. Let's just end rehearsal here." He took his guitar off and placed it back on its stand before heading into the house and up to the bathroom to shower.

* * *

Lance couldn't sleep. And when Lance couldn't sleep, it was usually because he couldn't stop thinking about something. Tonight's theme, for the second night in a row, was Keith bloody Kogane.

Lance couldn't believe he was still thinking of that mullet-wearing idiot. But Grant had gotten in Lance's head. Lance didn't want Grant to think he was gay. He wasn't gay. Was he?

"No, Lance," he spoke aloud. "Don't go down roads that are only going to lead to more confusion. You've been straight your entire life, there's no reason you'd be gay now."

Lance rolled over and tried to get the image of Kogane out of his head so he could finally get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Everyone packed in?" Hunk asked, turning in the front seat to look back at everyone. Lance responded with everyone else that they were good to go, and Hunk pulled the van out of the driveway.

The four of them were headed to the venue to set up for the second round. They'd all agreed to get there early so that they could squeeze in some extra practice and make sure they were ready. Lance felt pretty confident about their second song, but a little more practice couldn't hurt. He knew his band members felt the same.

They reached the venue and started unpacking their instruments, bringing them in through the door that led to the rehearsal room hallway. There was barely anyone in the venue with them, just a few stagehands preparing some extra things. Lance helped Pidge with their drums into one of the rehearsal rooms that he was pleased to find empty. They set up the drums, plugged their amps into the walls, and were all set to go.

"Okay, guys," Lance said. "Let's start from the bridge before the last chorus. We can start around the part where Hunk has his solo."

Hunk nodded and Pidge timed them in. They started off a little out of sync, but Lance didn't mind since they were starting in the middle of the song. They quickly got into their rhythm and played through until the end of the song, and when they finished Lance was assured that they were ready.

"This is great, guys," Lance said, sitting in a nearby chair. "We'll nail this performance as well."

"Well, it would help if we knew where we stood after each round," Pidge commented, slouching on their stool. "They don't tell us if we pass or not until after all three rounds are over."

"I like the way it is now," Hunk replied. "I mean, I wouldn't want to work on three songs if we only got to perform one of them, ya know?"

Allura nodded. "That's true."

Lance stood up from his chair and stretched, setting his guitar down after. "I'm gonna' head to the bathroom. Be right back."

He headed into the hallway and to the bathroom, taking his time since he knew they weren't in a rush. When he came out he turned the corner back into the hallway, but stopped in his tracks when he saw another band coming in from the entrance. But not just any band. _Keith Kogane's_ band.

Lance swallowed and his gut twisted into a bundle of nerves. A part of his mind that wasn't freaking out was questioning why he'd reacted like this both times he'd seen Kogane. Come to think of it, ever since he met Kogane he'd started reacting weirdly to him. But Lance didn't have time to think about that right now. Kogane was talking to another band member, a tall man with short black hair and a tuft of white hair in the front, but when he spotted Lance he stopped. He said something to his friend and walked over towards Lance, who was mentally preparing himself for the exchange.

"Hey, McClain," Kogane said. "What are you doing here so early?"

"N-none of your business, Mullet-Head," Lance stammered. "My band and I came here to . . . to practice a bit before we perform." Lance blinked and took in the way Kogane looked, and he felt that weird feeling in his chest again. Kogane's hair was tied back in a small ponytail, and the red jacket he was wearing looked good on him. Like, _really_ good. Woah. Why did Lance think he was so good-looking?

Kogane folded his arms. "If it's none of my business, why did you just tell me what you were doing?"

Crap. Lance swallowed again. "Uhhhhh, 'cuz I-I, um. Whatever! I'm gonna' go practice, do you wanna' come with me or not?"

 _What was he doing?!_ Lance didn't want Kogane in the same _building_ as him, let alone the same room. Having Kogane in the same room as him would only serve to make him pissed off and nervous, and he couldn't focus on playing his best like this.

Kogane looked surprised. "I thought I was your rival. Now you want to practice in the same room?"

Lance could've smacked himself. "O-of course not! Well, it's not like, you know, I'm telling what you can and can't do, and of course being your rival doesn't necessarily mean we can't be in the same room, but then again being your rival probably means that we shouldn't be in the same room because then we would hear each other play and then—"

"Woah, woah," Kogane stopped him, holding up his hands in surrender. He looked amused and Lance cursed his rambling mouth. "It's fine. There's other people showing up around this time, anyway, so it's better to rehearse around someone you can actually tolerate, right?"

Keith walked over to the closest practice room and Lance blinked. He turned around. "Wait, what?"

Keith chuckled and opened the door, gesturing for his band mates to follow suit. Lance turned back around to see the other members of his band walking over. The guy with the white tuft of hair stopped in front of him while the others continued.

"I'm Shiro," he said, extending his hand. Lance, kind of in a daze, took it. "Keith's told me a lot about you. He said you're probably his biggest competition here."

Lance's brain blanked. "Uhhhhhhhh."

Shiro laughed. "It's that surprising, huh?"

Lance shook his head. "No. Well, yes, but mostly because I thought Kogane would be way above my level."

Shiro gestured towards the door. "That's not what _he_ thinks. Let's just have fun before we perform, shall we?"

Lance followed Shiro in through the door to see his band mates already chatting with Kogane's. Pidge and Hunk were talking with Kogane and the keyboard player, Shay. Allura was already getting along with the tall guy with glasses, and Lance waited for the jealousy that usually accompanied seeing Allura talking to other guys. Except it didn't. Before Lance could process that he saw Pidge wave him over, and he shook his head to clear his mind before joining them.

"Look, look!" Pidge cried. "It's The Legendary Defenders!"

Lance rolled his eyes, pointing his thumb to where Kogane was sitting. "Yeah, I know. I'd recognize that mullet anywhere."

"Hey, my hair's in a ponytail today," Kogane protested, folding his arms across his chest.

Lance scoffed, feeling more comfortable around his friends. "Psh, doesn't mean you don't have a mullet."

"I have got to find a name for you or I'll be stuck without a retort," Kogane complained.

"How 'bout 'Lover-boy Lance'?" Pidge piped up.

Lance whipped around. "Shut up about that, Pidge!"

Hunk snickered. "Heh. I remember that."

Lance glared at him, feeling his embarrassment creeping up his face. "Hunk, I swear on my guitar I will strangle you."

Kogane let out a short laugh, and Lance turned to see him struggling to hold back a smile. "'Lover-boy Lance'? Where did that come from?"

"Lance was practicing one-liners so he could ask Allura out and Pidge caught him saying that to himself in the mirror," Hunk told him, trailing off into a giggle.

A brief flash of surprise passed over Kogane's face before he looked over with an expression Lance couldn't identify. "You and Allura?"

Before Lance could reply Pidge chimed in with, "Yeah, he's had the hots for her ever since they met."

"But we're not together," Lance added, to his own surprise. He met Kogane's gaze and swallowed.

Kogane held Lance's gaze for a second, but Lance swore it felt like a year. A small smirk pulled at Kogane's mouth. "Good to know. Guess I'll start calling you Lover-Boy from now on."

"Please don't," Lance said.

"Too late. It's happening."

"Come on, dude."

"Nope. If you can call me Mullet-Head, I reserve the right to call you Lover-Boy. Or is that going to be a problem for you?"

It was very much a problem for Lance, whose patience was reaching its end. "Kogane, don't you dare."

A muscle in Kogane's jaw twitched and he stood up. Lance felt his stomach bunch as he realized Kogane was mad. "What're you gonna' do, McClain? Practice cussing me out in front of a mirror?"

Anger burned in Lance's chest and he took a step forward. "Not a chance, Mullet-Head! I'm gonna . . . gonna . . ." _Come up with something, quick!_ "I'm gonna challenge you to a riff off!"

Hunk and Pidge, who'd been watching the exchange with wide eyes, said together, "Huh?"

Kogane blinked. Clearly he hadn't been expecting that response. "What?"

Okay, Lance had let his big mouth run. Now he had to back it up. "You heard what I said. I told you, we're rivals. So, uh, if you want to call me Lover-Boy so badly, you've got to beat me in a riff off. Otherwise I'm gonna' call you Mullet-Head until I'm blue in the face!"

Kogane's eyes narrowed. "Fine. Let's battle it out, then." Kogane left to get his guitar and Lance walked over to his with Hunk and Pidge on his heels.

"Dude, what do you think you're doing?!" Hunk hissed. "That's Keith Kogane, dude. Keith Kogane!"

"I know who he is!" Lance snapped. It wasn't fair to take out his irritation on Hunk, but he didn't care. Kogane was getting on his nerves. "And I don't care."

Pidge sighed. "Let him go, Hunk. You know how stubborn he is."

Pidge's words were fuel to Lance's fire, and as he brought his guitar back to where Kogane was standing Lance wondered why he was getting so fired up. He wondered why _Kogane_ was so fired up. He had seemed fine when Lance had called him Mullet-Head before, but maybe Lance had been wrong. Maybe he'd misjudged Kogane's tolerance of that nickname. Oh, crap, what if he'd been wrong this entire time?

But Lance couldn't dwell on those thoughts when Kogane was waiting for him to start the battle. Guitar riff offs generally had one rule: play until you make a mistake. It was a mix of improvisation and playing from memory, and seeing Kogane's intense expression just made Lance more determined. Lance plugged his guitar in to the amp, took a deep breath, and started playing.

He started off with something easy. A simple melody that anyone could play, but wasn't boring. Lance played a few repeats of it with some simple variations, and Kogane readied his pick to play. Kogane bounced off of Lance's idea, adding some more complex variations and techniques as Lance played his version.

"Come on, Lover-Boy," Kogane said, his eyes fixed on Lance's. "What else can you do?"

Those words sent a jolt of electricity through Lance, and his skin tingled with energy. He ramped up his playing, building off of Kogane's riff by making it more impressive. He started adding chords to his melody, basing it purely off of instinct and muscle memory of his guitar. A few cheers went up around him, and a quick glance told Lance they'd attracted a bit of a crowd.

But Lance's gaze quickly settled back on Kogane. Kogane's eyes narrowed and he swallowed. As Lance continued playing chords Kogane sent his fingers flying across the fret board, moving his pick perfectly in time. The harmony from Lance's chords and Kogane's lead sent shivers through Lance, hot and cold at the same time.

"Whoo!" Pidge yelled. "Go Lance!"

"You've got this, Keith," Shiro cheered.

Lance's eyes were still locked on Kogane's. And as they continued to play and up their game one after the other, Lance found that the rest of the world was falling away. He didn't know what was going on around him, and he didn't care. The only thing he could see, the only thing he could hear was Kogane. The only thing he could hear was _Keith_.

Lance could feel them nearing the end of the phrase. He shredded out some higher chords in the hopes that Keith would see where he was going, and Keith changed his playing to let them reach the end. They ended at the same time with the same chord an octave apart, with the two of them breathing heavily and somehow only a few feet apart.

Cheers erupted around them, reminding Lance of the outside world, but Lance was noticing little details about Keith's face that he hadn't before. Like a small scar above one eyebrow. Or how his eyes weren't brown like Lance had originally thought, but a dark grey. Wow, he was attractive. Keith's lips were slightly parted as he caught his breath, and his gaze flitted across Lance's face. Lance's stomach fluttered and swirled and he felt like his skin was on fire, but more than anything he felt an intense desire to be closer to Keith.

Reality slammed into Lance and he blinked, breaking the illusion. He took a step back and swallowed. People were still cheering them on from the crowd but Lance felt like he'd been slapped in the face. What had just happened?

Pidge ran up to him and flung themself at him, wrapping him in a tight hug. "Lance, that was awesome! Where did you learn to do that?"

Hunk came up to them and hugged the two of them. "That was so frickin' cool, dude!"

Allura walked up to him next, her eyes wide and a huge smile on her face. "I'd have to agree. That was quite the spectacle, Lance. Seriously impressive."

A week ago a compliment like that from Allura would have had Lance jumping in the air and whooping with joy. But right now the only thing he was feeling was confusion, and a strange mix of desire and panic.

He glanced back at Keith, who was receiving similar praise from his own band members and others who'd come to talk to him. Had Lance imagined that earlier? That feeling of being the only two people in the world? Keith smiled at something Adam said, but the smile seemed forced. Keith caught Lance's gaze and Lance immediately looked away. The burning sensation in his gut was too much. He didn't understand what was happening to him.

A sound horn suddenly went off in the room and everyone jumped. Lance looked towards the door to see a stagehand holding a clipboard. "Places for the top of the show, please! We start in ten!"

Lance excused himself from his band to go to the bathroom and try and calm himself down. He knew he wouldn't be able to sort through his torrent of emotions right now, but he also knew he'd have to address them sooner or later. What the hell was going on with Keith Kogane?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The second round progressed just as smoothly as the first one. Better, Lance thought. Lance's friends had been pumped up after the riff off and had released all their energy into the performance. Lance barely remembered how he'd performed, but it had apparently been good. He'd watched Keith's performance again and it had filled him with energy. He simply remembered the desire to be better than Keith before Lance had gone on stage.

Now Lance was sitting in the back seat of the van staring at a spot on the floor. He'd hardly said anything since they'd packed up their stuff and left. Lance didn't think he could accurately describe what he was feeling. There were so many things going through his mind, most of them about Keith, and Lance didn't know what to think of any of them. But one thing he did know was that he dreaded going home. Because once he got home, he knew he'd be alone with his thoughts.

"Lance?" Allura said quietly. Hunk and Pidge were chattering amongst themselves in the front, paying them no mind.

Lance looked up from the floor. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You've been kind of . . . silent since our performance."

A bolt of panic flashed through him, leaving his heart pounding. "Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine."

Allura looked more concerned. "Are you sure?"

Lance forced a smile. "Yep. Just tired, I guess."

Allura didn't press it further, and soon the four of them were at the house. They unloaded the instruments into the garage, and Lance told his friends that he was gonna' go to bed early.

Every step up the stairs felt like an eternity, and Lance was getting increasingly nervous. His heart sank into his stomach, and Lance swallowed to get rid of the dry feeling in his throat. He shouldn't be this nervous right now. He sat at his desk and opened his computer.

"Okay, first thing's first, Lance," he muttered to himself. "Let's make a list."

This was one of the things that helped Lance the most to figure out his own emotions. He'd sit at his computer and type out a list of things he knew he was feeling, ask himself questions about where he thought those feelings were coming from, and then write down possible answers. Lance would slowly narrow it down until he felt like he understood himself better.

Lance opened a new doc and started typing.

 _\- Whenever Kogane's around I feel nervous_

 _\- Whenever Kogane's around I feel pissed_

 _\- I can't stop thinking about him?_

 _\- Kogane is actually really good-looking?_

 _\- During the riff off I felt . . ._

Lance stopped typing. He couldn't bring himself to type out what he was thinking in his head. Because if Lance was right about what he was thinking, then that meant a conclusion that Lance _rrreeeaaalllyyyy_ didn't want to acknowledge. Because the most logical conclusion for why he was feeling these things was. . . Lance took a deep breath and opened his web browser.

There it was. The Google homepage. Truly, a magnificent search engine. The best one out there, actually. Who even uses Yahoo or Bing these days?

Lance sighed. He knew what he needed to search up, and he was just stalling by contemplating the many different types of internet search engines. He steeled himself against his racing heart, swallowed, and started typing with shaking hands.

 _How do i know if i like a guy when i am a guy_

Over a billion search results popped up, and Lance's eyes widened as he took it all in. Where would he even start? A quiz? Yeah, like that would tell him anything. Those kinds of quizzes were almost always things like, "do you like guys or girls?", and that was the whole thing Lance was trying to figure out.

He settled for clicking on the Wikipedia page for the LGBT group. As he was reading through it his eye caught on the term "Kinsey scale". So he did a search for that and was more satisfied with the results that time around. He clicked on the first link and ended up at a site where he could see where he'd place on the Kinsey scale.

Before he looked at the first question, Lance paused. Was this really what he wanted to be doing? Did he really want to know the answer to that question? If he was . . . what Lance thought he was, what would that mean for him? He would have to come out to his friends, his family, and pretty much everyone who knew him and would come to know him. His stomach churned with panic at the thought of even telling his friends.

Lance knew they would accept him. With Pidge being non-binary and Hunk being asexual, it's not like they were strangers to those kinds of things. But Lance was still anxious about it. He didn't like the fact that people's perception of him would change.

But at the same time, Lance didn't know if what he felt for Keith was attraction or not. Okay, well Lance was attracted to Keith, in the broadest sense of the term. He felt a pull towards Keith that he couldn't understand or describe. There was just something about him. He wanted to be near him. And that annoyed him to all hell and back.

Lance blinked as something dawned on him. How did he know he was attracted to Keith _romantically?_ How did he know it wasn't just friendship? Lance chuckled to himself, and that chuckle soon turned into laughter. God, he was such an idiot! He'd assumed this entire time that he'd had a crush on Keith when he _obviously_ just wanted to be friends with him!

Lance let himself calm down from laughing and took in a deep breath. He'd been worried over nothing this whole time. Of course he wasn't gay. He still had a crush on Allura, after all. He'd start by being friends with Keith, and he'd forget this whole sexuality crisis ever happened.

* * *

With the second round done with, they only had one more round to go through and see if they made it to the next part. During rehearsal that day Pidge reminded them that the next part of the contest would be a battle royale. They'd be pitted against one band after another, and whoever performed better would advance until there were six bands left.

"So, how many songs would we have to write if we make it through?" Hunk asked.

"Three," Pidge replied. "The remaining bands will be separated into two blocks, and there's three rounds. If we win every round, we go to the finals."

"So every band needs to prepare three songs," Allura said.

Pidge nodded. "Yep. Everyone wants to win."

Lance stood up from where he was sitting. "Gotcha. We'll just need to become even better by then."

"Not you, mister 'I had a riff off with Keith Kogane and won'," Hunk teased, waggling his eyebrows at him.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. We tied, at best. It was never even decided who won."

"What's this?" Allura asked, squinting at him with a cheeky smile. "Lance McClain doesn't want to boast over something? Who are you and what have you done with Lance?"

Pidge and Hunk laughed, and Lance chuckled. It was weird. He didn't feel like there'd been a clear winner in that battle. Well, he definitely looked up to Keith. He'd come to terms with that last night. But in that riff off, he'd felt on equal terms with him.

Lance shook his head. "Alright, guys. Let's do one more round and then I'll go out and get everyone pizza."

"Pizza!" Pidge cheered.

"Oh, actually Lance," Hunk started, "could you pick up some strap buttons at Guitar Center for me? I think mine are coming a bit loose."

Lance nodded. "Sure." They practiced their song with a few bumps, but nothing that couldn't be fixed during the week. Lance put his guitar away and went up for a quick shower before getting in his car and heading to Guitar Center. He'd pick up the strap buttons before getting the pizza. The pizza would take a while to make anyway.

He entered the store and stood for a second, taking it in. He loved going to the music store. Guitars and basses covered the wall to his right floor to ceiling. There was a section for keyboards, orchestra, mixing and producing, drums, microphones, pretty much anything. It was a musician's paradise. Lance smiled to himself and went over to the guitar section.

As he was browsing the aisles trying to find the strap buttons, he didn't look where he was going and bumped into someone. Lance stumbled back a step. "Oh, sorry."

Then his eyes widened as he recognized who was standing in front of him. "Kei—, I mean, Kogane?"

Keith looked at him with a surprised expression. "McClain. I, uh, wasn't expecting to see you here."

The usual nervousness that Lance experienced around Keith started swirling in his belly. But this time he knew it was just because he just admired him. _Remember, Lance. Let's try to be friends with him._ "Yeah, uh, I'm just getting some extra strap buttons for Hunk. I mean, my bassist."

Keith nodded. "I remember. He had that really good solo in your second song."

It was Lance's turn to be surprised. "You stayed to listen to my song?"

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Of course. You guys are good."

Keith's praise had Lance filling with happiness, and he tried to keep his smile in check. "Th-thanks."

The two of them held each other's gaze for a second. Then two. Lance was wondering why Keith wasn't saying anything, but he seemed to be contemplating something.

"McClain, about the other day," Keith began.

"Do you want to join me for pizza?" Lance blurted. Wow. He hadn't expected to say that. He hadn't even planned that. It was like Lance had felt the impulse for a split second and his brain had said, 'screw it', and had gone with it.

Keith blinked. Then looked confused. "What?"

"I mean, my band and I are having pizza tonight," Lance back-tracked. "I'm actually going to pick it up right now, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us? You don't have to, obviously, but I just felt bad about the other day, and I—"

"Wait," Keith stopped him. "You felt bad about the other day?"

Lance nodded sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I felt like I was an ass to you when I didn't have to be. I won't call you Mullet-Head if you don't want me to."

Keith's expression was unreadable, but after a second he chuckled. "That's okay. And you don't have to apologize." He averted his gaze, looking embarrassed. "I was an ass, too. I got a little . . . jealous. And I overreacted. Sorry, McClain."

Jealous? What did Keith have to be jealous over? Whatever. Lance grinned and extended his hand. "Let's start over then. I'm Lance McClain, but just 'Lance' is fine. Do you wanna' be friends?"

Keith eyed his hand and grinned back. "I'm Keith Kogane, but you can call me Keith. And being friends sounds good."

He took Lance's hand and Lance felt a sensation go through his body that was gone almost instantly. They shook hands while looking at each other and Lance's chest tightened with an exhilarating feeling. It made him want to run and jump and whoop with joy. Is that what being friends with someone he admired felt like? Lance didn't want to leave this feeling.

Keith retracted his hand, though. "And yes, by the way. I think I'll join you for pizza. If we're being friends now."

Lance's face lit up with a smile. "Great! I'll just go check out and we can go over to the pizza place and then I'll show you the way home."

"Why don't you just text me your address?" Keith suggested. "I'll meet you there. I still have some stuff to do here."

"Oh. Sure."

Lance brought out his phone and exchanged numbers with Keith, hoping to hide the fact that his hands were quivering. As he left the store with Hunk's strap buttons, Lance felt lighter than air. He felt like he could run a hundred miles without stopping. Lance couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this happy to be friends with someone.

A huge smile bloomed on his face as he thought about that again. Lance was friends with Keith Kogane. And Keith was friends with him. Lance got in his car and blasted his music through the speakers, singing along to it with all his heart.

* * *

Lance pulled up in his driveway to see Keith leaned against his car parked on the curb. He stood up when he saw Lance, and Lance got out of his car with the pizza in tow.

"Ready?" Lance asked, a ridiculous smile on his face. His heart was beating like crazy and he was still nervous, but it was the kind of nervous he felt before he performed. A mixture of excitement and adrenaline.

Keith gave his usual light smile and nodded, following Lance to the front door. "Whenever you are, Lance."

Damn. Why did hearing Keith say his name feel so good? Lance faced the doorway and gripped his chest for a second before opening the door. He was seriously happy they were friends.

"I'm home, guys!" Lance yelled. He took his shoes off in the entrance and Keith followed suit. "And I brought pizza! And something else!"

"Pizza!" he heard Pidge yell.

"And something else!" Hunk added. Keith chuckled behind him, and Lance glanced back at him with a grin.

"Are you roommates with all your band members?" Keith asked as they headed towards the living room.

"Just Pidge and Hunk," Lance replied. "Allura lives in the dorms."

The two of them rounded the corner into the living room where Pidge, Hunk, and Allura were chilling on the couch. They looked over when they heard Lance come in and he felt kinda good to see the look of surprise on their faces.

"This is the something else," Lance said.

"Keith!" Hunk cried, jumping up from the couch. "What are you doing here? Ohmygod I'm totally wearing pajama pants right now."

Keith chuckled. "I ran into Lance at Guitar Center and he invited me to have pizza with you guys. I hope I'm not intruding?"

"Not at all," Allura said, though she looked a bit wary. "I wish we'd had some heads up, but it's not a problem."

Lance laughed sheepishly. "Hehe. I thought it would be a fun surprise."

Pidge got up from their seat and rounded the couch, grabbing the box of pizza from Lance with a teasing grin. "Well, it'll be more fun once we have some food."

"I'll get the plates," Hunk said, rushing into the kitchen.

Lance took his keys and wallet out of his pockets and set them on the coffee table before sinking into the far right side of the couch. He watched Keith do the same and move to sit on his left, glancing at Allura before he did.

"So, Keith," Allura started, "what made you accept Lance's invitation?"

Keith glanced at Lance with a knowing smirk and Lance's felt his face heat up. Sitting this close to Keith was making him buzz with energy, and Lance gave Keith a goofy smile in response. Keith gave a quick laugh before turning back to Allura. "We became friends."

Allura smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I see."

"Got the plates!" Pidge said, sliding on the hardwood floors with their fuzzy socks. They set the plates down quickly and opened the pizza box for everyone to grab their own share. Lance immediately grabbed two pieces and started digging into one of them. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until now.

"So, how did you and Lance become friends?" Allura asked after a bit.

Hunk coughed. "You guys are friends? Since when?"

Pidge snorted. "Yeah, Lance. I thought you said you hated Keith's stupid mullet."

Lance reddened and he looked over at Keith with wide eyes. "Um, er, well, duuuh. Who wears a mullet these days? But I, uh, only said that 'cuz I was embarrassed."

Keith raised an eyebrow at him, an amused expression on his face. "Embarrassed, huh? About what?"

Lance's face couldn't _possibly_ get any hotter, could it? "U-uh, um, I-I, uh," he stammered. "It, it was the day you got coffee, and I . . . made an absolute fool out of myself."

Keith threw his head back and laughed, and the sound of it filled Lance's chest with a warm feeling. He liked Keith's laugh a lot.

"Wait, when did Keith show up for coffee?" Allura asked, setting her plate down.

"Yeah, and what happened?" Pidge added, their eyes wide with interest and a smug smile on their face.

Lance groaned. "Can we not talk about it? I don't want to relive that moment."

Keith placed his hand on Lance's arm, and Lance felt a shiver go across his skin. "Please, like I wouldn't pass up this chance to embarrass you."

Lance turned to him with an expression of dismay. "Dude!"

Keith laughed again, causing Pidge and Hunk to laugh, and Lance couldn't help but join in. They five of them were having fun. Lance enjoyed Keith's presence, and as the night went on and they continued talking, it felt more and more like Keith was a natural part of the group. Which Lance liked. He wanted Keith to come around more often. He wanted to spend more time with Keith in general.

"Get outta the way, McClain," Keith said, bumping Lance with his shoulder. They'd switched to playing Mario Kart after finishing the pizza, and Keith and Lance were neck-in-neck for first place.

Lance scoffed. "Hah! Not as long as you're playing Bowser, Kogane."

He bumped Keith back, and soon the two of them were pushing against each other as they fought to reach the finish line first. Then the part of Lance's mind that wasn't focused on the game was processing just how much of Keith's body he could feel against his own, and Lance started losing his concentration. Especially since Keith had a really nice body.

Lance's heart started speeding up, and as the two of them rounded the last corner of the race Keith quickly pulled away from Lance, making Lance's side crash into Keith's leg. Keith won the race, and he pumped his fists in the air.

"Whoo! I win!" Keith cheered.

Pidge and Hunk applauded for him while teasing Lance at the same time, but Lance wasn't paying attention because his face was suddenly much too close to Keith's thighs. Lance pulled back and pushed Keith away from him with his hands as a laugh bubbled up from his chest.

"Whatever, dude!" Lance said, still giggling. "I'll win next time!"

Their gazes locked and a blush heated up Lance's face again. Could Keith tell? Lance really hoped he couldn't. He didn't know it was possible to blush so much around someone he was friends with, but this was the first time Lance had been friends with someone like Keith. He was sure it was just because he was excited.

Keith grinned at Lance. "I'm sure you will."

* * *

The end of the night arrived too fast for Lance, and Keith gathered his stuff and said goodbye to everyone. Lance had offered to walk Keith to his car, and the two of them walked to the front door to grab their shoes. Lance opened the door and allowed Keith to exit first.

"Tonight was really fun, Lance," Keith said once Lance closed the door.

"Really?" Lance said. "I mean, o-of course it was! You're hanging out with _me_ , after all!"

Keith chuckled. "Yeah, it _was_ because of you."

Uhhhhhhhhhh. Lance didn't know what to say to that. "Uh, well, I had fun because of you too."

"You know I've never really had friends like that," Keith said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Like Pidge and Hunk and Allura. You guys are all friends, and you understand one another."

"What about your band mates? Don't you guys hang out?"

Keith shook his head. "I go out with Shiro sometimes, but since he moved in with his boyfriend I haven't been able to see him as often."

Lance stopped. "Boyfriend?"

Keith looked back at him. "Yeah. Adam Westley? The guy with the glasses?"

Lance suddenly felt so stupid. "I'm an idiot."

Keith tilted his head. "Why?"

Lance sighed, suddenly reluctant to tell Keith this. "Before we had the riff off I saw Allura talking to Adam, and I thought Allura was interested in him. I thought I would be jealous."

Keith was quiet for a moment. "Because of your crush on Allura?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah."

"But you weren't jealous?"

Lance shook his head. "No, I . . . I guess I wasn't. I usually am when it comes to her talking to good-looking guys, but . . . I wasn't." Huh. It had only just dawned on Lance that he really hadn't been jealous seeing Allura and Adam talking together. "I wonder why."

Keith looked at Lance for a long time, a kind of neutral expression on his face. Then a half smile. "Well, I hope it goes well for you two." Somehow, hearing Keith say that made Lance feel . . . weird. He wasn't sure how to describe the feeling. It was an uncomfortable feeling in Lance's chest. He didn't like it.

They continued walking. "Are you . . . seeing anyone?" Lance wondered why that question filled him with so much trepidation.

Keith glanced at him with a grin. "Not currently. Why, are you interested?"

Lance felt his heart skip a beat and he laughed. "Yeah, right. I'm totally gay for you, dude."

Keith chuckled along with him, averting his gaze. "Right. Well, I'm gonna' head home now." They'd reached his car. He opened the door and sat down.

"Do you wanna' hang out again sometime?" Lance asked, feeling weirdly disappointed to see him go.

Keith smiled. "Of course. Do you even have to ask?"

Lance's stomach swirled with butterflies, and his heart started beating overtime in his chest. "Hahah, uh, yeah, I guess not. I'll text you?"

Keith nodded. "I look forward to it. Bye, Lance."

"Bye, Keith."

Keith closed the door and started his car up, pulling away from the curb with one last wave in Lance's direction. Lance waved back, the butterflies in his stomach still there even after Keith's car disappeared around the corner. He started walking back to his house, but before he knew it Lance was jumping in the air, feeling like a million bucks.

"Whoo-hoo!" he yelled. "I'm friends with Keith Kogane!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The rest of the week leading up to the third round was uneventful and went by faster than Lance expected. He practiced with his band members every day and by the time the third round arrived, he was as confident in their performance as ever.

Lance had also been texting Keith. Which was weird to Lance, because he could talk to Keith over text easier than he could in person. He would still be excited to text Keith, but it wasn't as overbearing as it was when Lance saw him face to face. So far they'd been texting almost every day, and Lance had come to really enjoy talking with him. They'd talk about video games or TV shows or music, pretty much anything at all. Lance would also send Keith memes, which Keith seemed to like a lot because he didn't look at memes very often. Lance liked finding ridiculous pictures to send to him.

The day of the third round arrived, and Lance and his friends headed over to the venue. This would be the last chance they had to show their stuff, and then they'd know if they would pass on to the next round. After getting to the site and unloading everything, Lance headed to the rehearsal room to see if Keith was there. He couldn't wait to see him again. Lance opened the door and spotted him immediately. He was talking with Shiro and Adam, and he was wearing that red jacket that Lance thought looked criminally good on him.

Lance ran over to him. "Hey, Keith!" He stopped in front of him, unsure of how to greet him. For a crazy second Lance had been about to hug him, but Lance didn't think that would be okay. He didn't know what kind of boundaries Keith had.

Keith's face lit up when he saw Lance. "Lance. Hey."

Lance's heart danced at the sight of Keith's smile. "Uh, hi." He suddenly realized he should greet the other two people standing next to him. "Um, hey, Shiro. And Adam."

"I don't think we've met," Adam said, extending his hand. "Lance, right? You did the riff off with Keith last time."

Lance shook Adam's hand and gave an awkward laugh. "Haha, y-yeah. That was me."

"You were really impressive," Adam said. "Now I know why Keith doesn't shut up about you."

Lance glanced at Keith to see him averting his gaze. His ears grew redder as Lance stared at him. Was Keith . . . ? Was Keith _blushing?_ That made Lance weirdly happy. "Really? He doesn't shut up about me?"

"We never hear the end of it," Shiro said, smiling broadly.

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Keith asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Shiro reached over and tousled Keith's hair. "Whatever you say, Mullet-Head."

"Hey!"

Shiro and Adam laughed, and Lance found himself smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. Keith talked about him to Shiro and Adam. His stomach flip-flopped, and Lance wondered again why it made him so happy. Lance started giggling too, and Keith's mouth pulled up in a grin.

"Are you ready for the last round?" Shiro asked.

Lance nodded. "Totally."

"I look forward to hearing your last song," Keith said, his eyes on Lance's.

Lance's face warmed up. "Me too. I-I mean, about you. I'm looking forward to hearing your song. Not mine. I've already heard mine. A bunch of times."

Keith chuckled. "I bet."

The stagehand came in to announce places, and Lance sighed. He'd wanted to spend more time with Keith.

"Well, looks like we've gotta go," Shiro said, taking Adam's hand. "Don't be late, you two."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith demanded, his face reddening again. Shiro chuckled in reply as he walked away, and Keith sighed roughly. "I'm gonna' take off too. Do you want to meet up after the show?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah. I think they're releasing the results tomorrow night."

Keith thought for a moment. "In that case, let's meet up tomorrow. We can wait for the results together, if that's okay with you."

"Yes!" Lance blurted. "It's more than okay! You should come over! Well, at least if that's what you want. Not that I'd have a problem with what you want to do, but it's just that, uh, I don't wanna' inconvenience you or something, I dunno."

Keith chuckled at Lance's attempt to form a coherent sentence. "Sounds good. I'll text you later, okay?"

Lance nodded furiously as Keith gave him a wave and headed off to join his band members. He'd been trying not to think too much about Shiro's comment. Now that he'd assured himself he was straight, he was determined not to go down that rabbit hole again. He knew what he felt for Keith was just friendship, and he knew it wouldn't progress past that.

He did have to admit to himself that his friendship with Keith was unlike any friendship he'd ever had with another guy. No, scratch that, it was unlike any friendship Lance'd ever had _period_. If Lance even _thought_ about Keith—and he found himself doing that a lot lately—he got these crazy butterflies in his stomach for a split second. It was even more intense when Lance was around Keith in person. Lance felt so, so, _so_ happy to be around Keith and talk with him. He'd realized a couple nights ago just how much he cherished his friendship with Keith.

It was surprising to him, and a little scary. Lance had never felt this for someone before. He wondered if Keith was becoming something of a best friend to him. Lance had never really had a best friend.

"Best friend," he whispered to himself.

Lance immediately blushed and, unable to keep the swelling of emotion in his chest in, he crouched on the ground and buried his head in his arms. He couldn't stop smiling, and if someone saw his face right now they'd think he was crazy.

"Lance?"

Lance glanced up to see Allura looking at him with a confused expression. "Are you alright?"

Lance jumped to his feet. "I'm fine! I'm better than fine, actually. I'm super good right now!"

Allura gave a hesitant laugh. "Ooo-kay. Well, everyone else is in the other rehearsal room so I thought to come and get you."

Lance nodded. "Alright. I'm coming."

* * *

Lance and his friends were waiting in the wings as Keith's band set up. They'd gone with Lance's "secret plan" all three rounds, and Lance was so glad he'd come up with it. If it meant they got to watch Keith's band play, Lance would get here three hours early.

Keith and his band set things up pretty quickly, and soon they were just waiting for the MC to announce them. In the dim blue light Lance could sort of make out Keith's figure, and he watched Keith stretch his arms.

The curtains pulled back, and Adam started them off with a pretty fast tempo. After a measure the other members came in perfectly in sync, and Lance watched as the stage flooded with color. Keith stepped up to the mic and started singing, and Lance shivered as chills washed over him. He couldn't stop staring. He didn't want to stop staring. Keith was . . . radiant. There was no other way to describe him. He filled the stage with his voice, his presence. Everything about him made Lance want to keep watching. Lance couldn't believe he was friends with someone like that.

Something tightened in Lance's chest, and a warm feeling spread in his gut. For some reason, Lance wanted nothing more than to walk on stage and hug Keith as close to him as possible. No, he _needed_ to be close to Keith. Lance had to get closer to him, but he didn't know how. It was like he had a huge amount of built-up energy but no idea how to release it, so it just fizzed inside Lance and made him restless. More than that, it made him realize that he really _did_ consider Keith to be his closest friend. It hadn't been more than a week since the two of them had started talking, but Lance already felt a crazy strong connection. Was that normal? Or was Lance just imagining things?

Keith's turn was over, and Lance cheered from the wings. The curtains closed and the blue-out took over, prompting Lance to start moving their things on stage. Once they'd gotten set up he looked over to the stage left wings to see if he could spot Keith. Then he shook his head. Lance had to focus on performing right now. He rubbed his pick between his fingers, a tick he did for good luck. He had this. He'd be able to talk to Keith later.

* * *

"Okay, guys, Keith is coming over!" Lance announced to the group. It was the day after the third round, and Keith had confirmed in a text that he'd be heading over to view the results with Lance. Since they hadn't been able to meet up after the show yesterday, Lance was itching to see him.

"Guys, I'm so nervous," Hunk said, chewing on his fingernails. "What if we don't pass? I don't think I could handle that."

"Well, I listened to the other bands' songs," Pidge said. "They're all posted on the website."

"What?!" Lance whipped around. "Even ours?"

"Yes, Lance, even ours," Pidge replied. Even they looked nervous, which wasn't usual for them. "Most of them were good. A lot of them were good, actually. There were only a few where it was obvious they didn't have much experience."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Allura said. "They only eliminate a few bands during the first round. That gives us a better chance of making it."

"Yeah, but there were so many other good bands," Hunk protested. "And music is mostly subjective, so how do we know the judges liked our stuff?"

"Aren't there clear cut categories?" Lance said, glancing at his phone to see if Keith had sent him anything.

Pidge nodded. "Yeah. They judge us based on individual skill, overall skill, and songwriting ability. Skill is pretty objective, but it's up to the judges' personal tastes to see if they liked our songs or not."

Allura let out a shaky breath. "Well, all we can do is hope they did like it. After all, we put everything into those songs."

The doorbell rang and Lance's heart dropped to the floor. "Keith's here. Ohmygod." He ran to the door, slipping on the wood in his socks, and opened it to see Keith wearing a black t-shirt that was a little on the tight side. And it made Lance forget all of what he was about to say.

"Uhhhhhhhh," he blanked.

Keith grinned at him. "Hello to you, too."

"Keith, get in here!" Pidge yelled from inside. "Hunk is having a breakdown!"

Keith raised his eyebrows. "Sounds serious. Can I come in?"

"Uh, y-yeah, of course!" Lance said, scrambling to recover. He opened the door the wider and gestured for Keith to come in as the words "I'm straight" repeated over and over in Lance's head.

Hunk was sitting on the floor with his head on Pidge's shoulder as they gently rubbed his back. "I've never been this nervous before, guys. Not even before we went on stage."

Lance sat down next to Keith on the couch and pulled Pidge's laptop towards him on the coffee table. He leaned forward to click to the round one results and Keith pressed closer to him to take a look. _I'm straight, I'm straight, I'm straight, I'm straight._

"How are you feeling about the results, Keith?" Allura asked. Lance glanced over at her to see her staring at Keith with an expression that wasn't hostile, but definitely wasn't friendly. Which was weird. Lance knew Allura to be really friendly. It was one of the things he liked most about her.

Keith shrugged, his shoulder brushing against Lance's. "I'm a little nervous. Of course I want to make it through, but if I don't it's not the end of the world."

"Dude, can you pass me some of that energy?" Hunk said, a miserable expression on his face. "I could really use it right now."

Keith chuckled. "It'll be fine, Hunk. You guys are all amazing musicians. I'm sure you made it through."

"I just hope you're right," Lance said. He'd been trying to keep it together for his friends' sakes, but on the inside he was just as nervous as Hunk was. His stomach was twisted into knots, and it wasn't just because he could feel every slight movement Keith made beside him. He was genuinely scared they wouldn't make it through.

He started tapping his foot on the ground, another nervous habit of his. Lance was one of those people who could never really sit still. His nervous ticks got more pronounced the more emotional he got. Lance needed an outlet for his energy. He refreshed the website again and let out a shaky breath.

"Lance," Keith said. He placed a hand on Lance's knee, and a flash of tingling spread across Lance's body. "It'll be fine. You've got this."

Lance looked at Keith to see that first, his face was entirely too close, and second, Keith was serious. The tingling was still going through Lance in waves, and while he didn't understand it he knew he didn't want it to stop. Lance swallowed and let out in a dry voice, "Thanks, Keith."

Lance refreshed the page again and his heart nearly stopped to see the words ROUND ONE RESULTS pasted across the top. "They're up."

The tension in the room was palpable as Lance scrolled down to see the band list. The Legendary Defenders had made it. When Keith saw his band's name his hand slightly tightened on Lance's knee, making a fresh wave of tingling go through his body. Lance continued scrolling and he froze.

"We made it."

Hunk shot to his feet and let out a huge cry. "YEEEEEESSS!"

"We made it!" Pidge yelled, jumping up and cheering. "We made it, guys!"

They ran over to fling themself at Allura in a hug, and she started laughing. "I can't believe it!"

Lance met Keith's gaze and couldn't move. He could see his own relief and joy reflected in Keith's face, and before Lance could think he wrapped his arms around Keith and squeezed him in a tight embrace. Keith froze for a second before slowly reciprocating, and Lance's heart hammered in his chest. He could feel Keith's heartbeat as well, and it was beating just as quickly as Lance's was. He must have been nervous about the results as well.

Common sense came back to Lance though, and he quickly pulled away from Keith. Lance was certain his face was red as a beet. "S-sorry!"

Keith looked a little flustered too, with wide eyes and red cheeks. "U-um, it's fine."

Then Pidge tackled Lance into the couch, and in a split second Lance's face was smushed into the cushion. "We made it, we made it, we made it, we made it!"

"Urf," Lance muttered.

"Alright, everyone," Lance heard Hunk say, "I'm gonna make a huge meal tonight. We have to celebrate!"

Pidge pushed off of Lance and stood on the couch, still jumping up and down as they cheered. "Whoo! Big meal!"

Lance straightened and glanced at Keith, who looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh. Seeing Keith's expression made a euphoric feeling bubble up in Lance's chest, and in no time he was laughing. Keith started laughing as well, and soon the two of them were laughing at everything until their stomachs hurt. The hilarity of the situation and the relief that they'd felt from making it through, and in that moment Lance thought he felt the happiest he'd ever been.


End file.
